It was a week of superlatives - 678 sailors, 599 boats, 150 races for ten Olympic classes and three Paralympic classes at the ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami.
This truly is the road to the Olympics. Every aspiring Olympic sailor takes a shot at this ISAF series that travels to the far corners of the world, qualifying gold medal winners and top continent finishers to race at the finale that follows the five-race series.
The next competition will take place at Hyères, France April 20-26. The finale will take place late in 2015 at Abu Dhabi, U.A.E. It’s a mini-Olympics for sailors only. You won’t see faces in Rio, 2016, that you didn’t see on the road to Rio, this road. You won’t see racing that is any more competitive. No, just sailors hardened in this crucible, playing for the highest stakes.
This is the proving ground. And as one winner put it, on to the next one.
Men’s RS:X
London 2012 Olympic gold medallist Dorian van Rijsselberge (NED) booked himself a spot at the ISAF Sailing World Cup Final in Abu Dhabi by taking a narrow victory in Miami.
The Dutchman held a ten point lead over Thomas Goyard (FRA) going into the Medal Race but a late surge from the Frenchman saw van Rijsselberge edge it by two points.
“I had a poor performance in the Medal Race,” said van Rijsselberge. “I’m not super happy with how it went but I did just enough to win. I was lucky because I had enough places already for me to keep in the lead.”
A sixth for van Rijsselberge and a second from Goyard was enough for victory and a spot on the World Cup Final start line, “We’re going to the final,” smiled van Rijsselberge, “We’ve tried to make qualifying as easy as possible so now the big thing ahead is the World Championship and Olympic test event before the final.
Looking at the points score, a winning score of 77 can be seen in two ways. Work to be done ahead of Rio or as the Dutchman put it, “The top guys are so good and anybody in the top ten can win a race. It was amazing as I don’t think I have ever seen such a high scoring event. The fact that it’s a high score event shows that everybody is so close together.
“There were a lot of ups and downs. Everybody seemed to get like a first and then a tenth or a 15th.”
Byron Kokkalanis (GRE) won the Medal Race to put himself with a chance of pushing up the leaderboard but Goyard’s second solidified his silver.
Home continent qualifiers for the finale at Abu Dhabi were Zac Plavsic (CAN) and Ricardo Santos (BRA).
All Results
Women’s RS:X
Bryony Shaw (GBR) had gold in the bag in advance of the Medal Race and concluded her regatta with a fifth. Shaw has been dominant across the week, mustering such consistency that has been lacking from many sailors score lines in the ten Olympic and three Paralympic events on show in Miami.
“It’s a great start to the year,” commented Shaw. “Miami has had a really high quality fleet here. It’s been very popular, with the new World Cup format and it was a target event for me. I wanted to start the year on a high.
It was a range of conditions this week and that really played to my strengths. My downwinds have been exceptional this week. I’ve made some big gains and some big comebacks so I am really pleased.”
Shaw’s victory qualifies her to the 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup Final set to be held in Abu Dhabi, UAE from 27 October to 1 November. After winning the inaugural edition at the back end of 2014, Shaw likes where the World Cup is heading, “It’s a change for the scene, but it’s a change for the better so we’ll always get some world class racing.
The race was on for the remaining medals and it was heartbreak for Flavia Tartaglini (ITA) who was on the course side and dropped out of the medals.
Lilian de Geus (NED) claimed a silver whilst Olga Maslivets (RUS) was a major benefactor of Tartaglini’s OCS and a seventh pushed her up into bronze medal position.
Home continent qualifiers for the finale at Abu Dhabi were Marion Lepert (USA) and Patricia Freitas (BRA).
All Results
ISAF WORLD RANKING NEWS
ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami, Presented by Sunbrella, a 200-point regatta, ensures significant changes across the ten Olympic events.
Men’s RS:X
ISAF Ranking RS:X Men - 2 February 2015
It was an up and down week in the Men’s RS:X, with consistency a rarity on Miami’s challenging track. Nonetheless, the form racers came to the forefront.
Dorian van Rijsselberge (NED) claimed gold which promotes him up to World #13 from World #29. Silver for Thomas Goyard (FRA) moves him up to World #3 a personal best and bronze medallist Byron Kokkalanis (GRE) retains World #1.
Sebastian Fleischer (DEN), Joan Cardona Bocarando (ESP) and Ivan Pastor (ESP) all move into the top 30 after solid Miami performances and subsequently qualify for ISAF Sailing World Cup Hyères.
The 100-point RS:X African Championship title went the way of Algeria’s Hamza Bouras. The Algerian moves up to World #105, a personal best.
Women’s RS:X
ISAF Ranking RS:X Women - 2 February 2015
Flavia Tartaglini (ITA) holds on to World #1 in the Women’s RS:X in spite of a disappointing final day in Miami. The Italian was on the course side in the Medal Race and dropped out of the honours. Nonetheless her fourth place was enough for her to retain her position at the top of the rankings.
The Netherlands’ Lilian de Geus and Russia’s Olga Maslivets were major benefactors of Tartaglini’s downfall. De Geus took silver which pushes her up to World #4, a personal best, and Maslivets’ bronze sees her climb up to World #25 from World #38 to secure a Hyères invitation.
Bryony Shaw (GBR) claimed a comprehensive Miami victory, solidifying her spot at World #2.
Text & Photos by ISAF
